I believe there’s a role for cryptosocial media. I wouldn’t be writing a book about it if I didn’t. But what is that role? There are two possible paths forward.
The first path is to aim for the stars. It’s the path of disruption. The rewards, if successful, are legion, but it’s a very difficult path and one with lots of resistance. If unsuccessful, the rewards will be replaced by collective shame.
The second path is to serve a niche within the social media category. This is the path that most cryptosocial media sites seem to be taking currently. It’s the path of least resistance. It’s also a path with fewer rewards. Those rewards, however, can be greater for a smaller number of people. It involves appealing to the narrow field of people with an interest in cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. It requires honing in on a very narrowly defined niche and serving that niche better than anyone else.
Every cryptosocial media platform and protocol has to answer this question for itself. Do you want to play King of the Hill with Facebook and/or Twitter, or do you want to strive to fill a niche that is currently not being served and do that better than anyone else can?
Of course, there is the possibility that following the second path could lead to the path of disruption. Maybe the first stage of development, the current stage, is setting the groundwork for the future. In this stage, it’s important to establish the value of cryptocurrencies by giving crypto enthusiasts a platform of their own. As older generations die off and younger generations grow up, the cryptosocial media ecosystem could eventually take over and replace legacy social media. This has happened in other industries.
At one time, for instance, radio was all the rage. No one owned television sets. Eventually, everyone had at least one television in the home and radio became a niche entertainment medium focused on popular music and talk shows. The airplane industry replaced the passenger train, then trains became a specialty mode of transportation for moving products. Things change, evolve. And I suspect that social media will evolve, as well. We are at the very beginning of a new cultural revolution.
Developing a Cryptosocial Niche
In 2017, futurist Bernard Marr said blockchain technology development is where the internet was in 1997. That was the year Six Degrees, the first recognizable social media platform, launched. It was also one year before Google launched.
Four years later, have we come that far?
Today, there are hundreds of cryptosocial media platforms in development, and many more have failed. In 2017, there were a handful.
In terms of design, the sites being developed today, five years after Steemit’s launch, are a far cry more attractive than Steemit ever was. I can look at Publish0x all day. Even Minds, the first cryptosocial platform to market (though its token wasn’t launched until 2018, a couple of years after Steemit’s), is more visually appealing than Steemit. That doesn’t mean it’s a “better” site as “better” is in the eye of the beholder.
Another way progress has been made is in the area of specialization. Interledger, a cross-chain technology, has made Coil possible. Already, some major publishers (Conde Nast, for instance), has adopted it. LBRY and PROPS specialize in video content. Voice and Minds are primarily blogging platforms. Increased specialization should give birth to new forms of cryptosocial media over time. Where today we can read about decentralized file sharing, decentralized finance, decentralized video content, and more, we may someday consider decentralized books just as valuable as hardback books were in the middle of the 20th century.
The development process may not be year-for year. After all, bitcoin was created in 2008. If Marr is right, then the first nine years of blockchain development took place in the same amount of time as the first seven years of World Wide Web development (and the first 14 years of internet development). If the trajectory is the same, we could be looking square in the eye of the blockchain bubble bursting soon.
On the other hand, we could be on the verge of an explosion of enterprise much like the internet immediately following the dot-com bust. Friendster and LinkedIn both launched in 2002, MySpace in 2003, Facebook in 2004, and YouTube in 2005. Whether the bubble pops before we hit that stride, one thing remains clear: We are at the infancy stage of cryptosocial development. Greater things are down the road.
That said, the only way to get to those greater things is for blockchain developers, particularly cryptosocial developers, to continue experimenting, building on past successes, and learning from mistakes. There may be a harvest of great crop just ahead, but we will likely have to endure a heavy storm or two that might take out a few of our choicest fields today.
Cryptosocial developers can hasten along the entire industry by continuing to develop their platforms and protocols. They can take a page from the military playbook and continuously develop their positions. Go one step further even and walk out front about a hundred feet, look back at your product, and take a look at what everyone else sees. Are there weaknesses in the product or ways to exploit the technology for the wrong kind of gain? Is the look and feel attractive or does it make people want to run for a bunker?
It’s hard to be a disruptor. It’s much easier to fill a void, and I think that might be the best path forward for the industry at this time. Find a void and fill it.
DISCLAIMER
I am not a financial advisor, nor do I give financial advice. The above information should not be considered financial advice but is for informational purposes only. Neither I nor Cryptowriter are responsible for financial losses incurred as a result of acting on this information. Please consult a financial advisor before making any financial decisions.
This post is published for Cryptowriter in association with Voice.
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This post was first published at Voice.